Manchester United replica shirts have become a banned item in Malaysia after local clerics took exception to the presence of a red devil on the club's crest, branding the image "dangerous and un-Islamic", Sky News reports.
Malaysian fans of the team have reacted angrily to the decision, voicing their disapproval on social media …

What?

religious

Anyone read Monstrous Regiment?

I can't help but be reminded of the increasingly psychotic decrees of the god Nuggan (only deity worshipped in Borogravia, but elsewhere known as the God of Paperclips, Correct Things in the Right Place in Small Desk Stationery Sets, and Unnecessary Paperwork).

According to the Book of Nuggan, cats, the colour blue, Dwarfs, oysters, mushrooms, chocolate, garlic, babies, cheese, the smell of beets, ears, jigsaw puzzles, crop rotation, shirts with six buttons, and rocks were all Abominations unto Nuggan.

Next time Malaysia has a disaster...

Re: Next time Malaysia has a disaster...

Non-christian countries have the red crescent, although suprised you'd not suggested why they didn't have a red muhammad, bet you'd never see a first aid kit for miles! I wonder what did ever happen to that teddy?

@steward

Red Cross? Don't they use a Red Crescent symbol when operating in Muslim majority countries.

BTW, El Reg, in this article there are three words which should never appear next to each other an El Reg article - 'News', 'reports' and 'Sky'. That said there is a great quote from a Malaysian man in the original Sky News article "What am I gonna do with all my Man Utd jerseys? And my sons' jerseys?" - the simple solution would be to take black marker to the offending image (leaving a slit for the eyes).

Yeah, that'll work...

You just need to wander round China Town towards Merdaka Square in Kuala Lumpur to see all the football kit knock offs. As if this will do anything about that. (there's even a police station in the middle of it all!)

Death to all fanatics!

"Death to all fanatics!"

Yeah...

Except that it appears this is a fatwa, not a law. I've not been able to find corroboration from any Malaysian publications, my friends over there haven't heard about it and since the only source is clerics it looks a lot like it's not an actual ban, but some imams wanting free publicity.

So it's a bit like saying that pork is banned in Israel because Rabbis say it's not allowed.

Wait

Malaysia

Many ways to skin a cat. In Malaysia, UMNO the racist party that defacto rules Malaysia from time to time unleashes its policies politizing Islam. Muslims are confused-first its caning women for alcohol although the Minister of Home Affair-Hishamuddin is seen in photographs all over the world drinking beer! Then there is no caning for a particular woman because of the publicity but many others caned although the Malaysian constitution disallows criminal matters to be dealt with by the Shariah Court. Then there is legalized gambling-the Najib Government is broke and they tried very hard to push for lotteries-that failed after much pressure but this HALAL UMNO gets its moneys from Genting Highlands Casino-The Directors of the Gambling Casino (majority are MUSLIMS). Why the Ulamaks can’t run up the hill and catch the devils there I don’t understand.The Muslims are confused-they can’t see the oppressive government who uses Islam illegally. What had Manchester United got to do with it? Most Imams have 4 or 5 wives -its legalized prostitution-say 3 talaks and you are divorced-can marry another-after sex-2 hours divorce-so all this is rather ridicilous. Malaysia can do anything!!! Except play football in the World Cup-like one commenter says that Malays should ask for exemption being Bumiputras-to play in Brazil.

lmao

Cripes!

Every day

Every day religion seems more and more shit.

But almost every government gives them special rights. Including the Uk governement.

Still, it's all a bit, er, preaching to the converted here....I wonder what percentage of El Reg readers bow down before their great sky fairy, and those of us that regard it as the height of all bollocks. Oh, and agnostics....you're half way there.

Having said all that, if a fatwa on Alex Ferguson is the result of all this it might be no bad thing.

Re Every day...

Agree with your first two sentences, but did you have to spoil it with your use of that tiresome "Sky Fairy" reference? 11 previous posts all focusing correctly on the stupidity of religious leaders and then you decide to spit on probably half the world's population for daring to believe (or maybe believe in the case of agnostics) in something beyond this crappy human-governed world. For the record I don't believe in God, but I respect the beliefs of others - as long as they refrain from thrusting them on me.

@Flugal

Here's a thought, guys...

Blimey if it's not the bloody Catholics...

Blimey if it's not the bloody Catholics it's any one of the others, I really would like all religious people to just get over it. If people are so easily swayed from their 'faith' by a picture of a devil then their 'faith' isn't very compelling is it?!

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there was a time when religion made sense and helped humanity, but it's now hindering human progress and it's time to grow up.

oh all absolutely nutters

if you include the AGWers, there is nothing but matter and Darwin is its prophet and their beancounter variant, economic rationalists. All the kinds of people who insist they know the unknowable, ignoring the test of rational minds which is " How do you know that ?".

They should should be supporting their local teams anyway...

Makes sense

When you think about it, if my imaginary friend says that all women should be draped like a budgie at night time and all muslims should slaughter non-muslims then it makes sense to say that my imaginary enemy should be reviled.

Imaginary friend - real followers

Imaginary friends / sky fairies have real people following them. These real people have real powers in the real government of real countries. And in many of these real countries it is illegal not to believe in the imaginary friend / sky fairy. And while you might not believe in the imaginary sky fairy, you will end up believing in your nth class citizenship, your inability to get a job, the handcuffs, the detention cell, the show trial (where as an nth class citizen your evidence doesn't count) and you will certainly believe it when they put the hood over your head.

This is a reality today. It was a reality in Europe between 1200 and 1800 and even believing in the same fairy as the person tightening the noose didn't help.

Religion is a dangersous thing. Faith is something different altogether. The UK is a secular democracy, which is something to be greatful for.

Why now?

Easy. Now they have a large enough amount of power to start throwing their weight around. Malaysia was "moderate" because religiously correct muslims didn't constitute a sufficiently large group to actually take any sort of control. Now they do, and so now they are. There are already "morality police" wandering around parts of the country, beating people for holding hands with their spouse or partner in public - a phenomenon that was unheard of just a decade ago there. Another 20 years and it'll be an islamic hell-hole like Iran.

Ban

Re: Ban

Hmm! well if that is true then that should be included in the copy.

I was in a Foreign country wearing a footie shirt and being hounded to look at their footy shirts - I was wearing a real shirt and they had fakes - not one was real and none of the people making the fakes can spell (although that can could be a loophole by pretending not to be a fake, because it is so UNLIKE the real thing).

No one seem bothered that my REAL shirt was different to the fakes on sale.

Well

I'm calling them all nutjobs.

Although the French less so, how is the banning of this symbol not religious suppression? It's suppression by a religious organisation. They believe the symbol to be one of religious significance otherwise they wouldn't be trying to SUPPRESS it.

The subtle difference is one's the suppression OF religion and the other is suppression BY religion. In my opinion the latter justifies the former.

I am not particularly religiously tolerant, I'd prefer a world where there were no believers in spaghetti monsters from space. Where people didn't threaten to kill people for drawing cartoons of fictitious or real people. A world free from the my god's better than your god crap.

An educated world where people don't need to believe, they're allowed to think for themselves.

There have been a lot of good things done in the name of various religions, there have also been a vast number of atrocities done in the name of religions too. It's time to stop that sort of rubbish.

religious freedom & respect goes both ways

If you want your cultural and religious conventions respected, you also have to respect other people's religious and cultural conventions.

In the western world, showing your face is a sign of openness and honesty, covering your face is a sign of concealment and dishonesty. There is a reason why historically outlaws are called hoods, it's because they covered their faces. Covering your face here will engender distrust and suspicion, despite it being "the norm" in other cultures.

While I don't believe the burka should be completely banned, i do think that no concessions should be made towards people who choose to wear one. If you walked into a bank or shop wearing a motorcycle helmet, you would be asked to remove it or leave. Don't expect to be allowed to wear one in places where showing your face is a requirement. Even if this effectively does ban it.

If you are going to ban a tshirt because it is against the "official" religion, fine, no problem with that. But just don't then expect concessions to be made towards you or your religion in secular countries.

Sot that's true...

Not been round Manchester much then?

Because we're nearly all red round here. You can tell who's not from Manchester by the way they wear a City shirt because they think it'll make them blend in (and it does, with all the City shirt wearing students).

Of course there are blue sections of the city, but they're the grubbier parts I'm sure.

Penang's probably more moderate

But then it's a lot more Chinese than the rest of Malaysia. And say what you like, I quite like Tiger. (Yes I know it's Singaporean, but they hopped in and out of Malaya so I still call it a native beer. Plus everyone drinks it.)